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Senate panel backs healthcare reform

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Senate panel backs healthcare reform

A key U.S. Senate committee endorsed a sweeping healthcare overhaul on Tuesday, gaining the support of an influential Republican and delivering President Barack Obama a victory on his top domestic priority.

The Democratic-controlled Senate Finance Committee approved the measure on a 14-9 vote, with Senator Olympia Snowe becoming the first Republican in Congress to back a healthcare reform bill.

“Today we reached a critical milestone in our effort to reform our healthcare system,” Obama said after the vote, warning there were still big challenges ahead for healthcare reform.

The bill, the last of five pending health measures to clear a committee in Congress, will be merged with the Senate health panel’s version in the next few weeks for a full Senate debate and floor votes.

Snowe, who had been courted by Obama and his fellow Democrats, said she still had reservations about the overhaul and could not guarantee her continued support as it advances.

“My vote today is my vote today. It doesn’t forecast what my vote will be tomorrow,” Snowe said.

Health insurer companies stocks fell on fears reform was gaining steam and would hurt profits if it passed. The S&P Managed Health Care index of large health insurers was down 1.9 percent.

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For best healthcare, location matters: study

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For best healthcare, location matters: study

The quality of healthcare Americans receive depends largely on where they live, with insurance coverage, access to preventive medicine and disease treatment varying widely from state to state, according to a study released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Foundation.

“Where you live matters,” said the foundation’s Vice President Cathy Schoen, who co-authored the study for the private research group, in a conference call with reporters. “And it shouldn’t.”

The report found that all of the states that have made healthcare reforms provide better access to medical treatment and prevention and mostly avoid costly hospital procedures.

Residents of Vermont have the best healthcare in the country, the foundation said. The small northern state, which embarked on a radical plan to provide all citizens with healthcare less than a decade ago, also leads the nation in “equity,” or making sure that people of lower income groups have healthcare.

The report comes as the U.S. Congress inches closer to finalizing a plan to reshape healthcare. So far, drafts of the plan have emphasized relying on the states to operate insurance exchanges and possibly to extend more health insurance to families with lower incomes.

“The patterns indicate that public policies, plus state and local health care systems, can make a difference,” according to the report, which was also conducted by Joel Cantor, director of the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University.

Hawaii followed Vermont, and Iowa was ranked third on the scorecard. Neither state has a plan to reform healthcare, but Minnesota, which has created public-private collaborations on healthcare, ranks fourth, followed by Maine, which has also implemented sweeping reforms. Massachusetts — the Vermont neighbor that recently began a universal health insurance program — was seventh.

At the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi has the worst healthcare, according to the scorecard. Oklahoma fares mildly better, followed by Louisiana and Arkansas.

Generally, the report found, states in the South, Southwest and lower Midwest have worse insurance rates and less access to good medical treatment.

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Senate health bill costs pegged at $829 billion

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Senate health bill costs pegged at $829 billion

A U.S. Senate Finance Committee health plan would cost $829 billion and cut the budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years, nonpartisan budget analysts said on Wednesday in a report that could bolster President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform drive.

The preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office also said the bill would reduce the number of uninsured people in the United States by about 29 million by 2019.

The bill would meet Obama’s push for a healthcare plan that does not increase the budget deficit, according to the CBO. The estimate could ease the way for committee approval of the measure in the next week.

“This is another important step forward for health reform,” White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said.

Republicans, saying they were concerned about the bill’s costs and potential impact on the budget deficit, had demanded the estimate before they cast a vote on the proposal to transform the $2.5 trillion healthcare system.

The bill, one of five pending in Congress on Obama’s top domestic priority, would require individuals to have health insurance and would offer subsidies to some people to help pay for it.

Insurers would face stiff new regulations — including a prohibition on rejecting coverage for people due to pre-existing medical conditions — and the bill would impose a tax on higher-cost insurance plans.

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